Locations

The Location field is used to assign specific places or jurisdictions to detail lines in your budget. This allows you to track costs by location and generate detailed reports or sub-budgets for each area.

Locations help associate expenses with where they are incurred, enabling more precise and granular reporting.

Key Points:

• Default Requirement: Line Budgeter requires at least one location per budget. During budget creation, the system automatically generates a location called Location1. Users can rename this location at any time but cannot delete all locations from a budget.
• Assignment: Each detail line can have only one location assigned.

The Locations screen in Element Manager is initially populated based on the selections made during Budget Builder setup. After the budget is created, you can add, edit, and manage locations and their settings directly from this screen.

Working with Locations

Locations are assigned to lines in the Details level of the budget through the Locations column.
They serve two main purposes:

1. Specify the location associated with the line.
2. Work with Phases and Day Types to retrieve calendar data.
   • Together, these three columns populate the Start Date and End Date fields.

Figure: Example of Locations in the Details level of the budget

Additionally, each budget must contain at least one location.
This requirement ensures proper functionality whether you’re creating a new budget or editing an existing one.

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Locations Table

Manage all production locations used in your budget in the Locations Table. Assign Locations a unique Location Code, designate a Location Currency, and view real-time totals associated with each location across the entire budget.

Adding a New Location

1. Click the Add button at the bottom of the table.
2. A new Location will be created with a default name (e.g., Location1, Location2, Location3, etc.).
3. A Short Name is also assigned automatically (e.g., Loc1, Loc2, etc.).
4. Update the Location with a custom name, if desired.
5. Enter a Location Code (optional).
6. Assign a Location Currency (optional).
7. Choose a color to represent the Location in the budget (optional).

Editing a Location

• Click into any cell to update the data. Changes are saved automatically when you click out of the cell.

Table Column Details

Column	Description	Data Type
Order	Drag the handle icon to reorder items in the table.	Draggable Icon
Use	Toggle this checkbox to enable or disable the selected line type. Disabled items remain visible in the budget but are excluded from total calculations.	Checkbox
Location Code	Assign an accounting code for the selected location, used for tracking and reporting in budget reports.	Numerical
Location Name	Set the full name for the location. This name appears on Detail-level lines in the Locations column for identification and reporting.	Text
Short Name	Assign a short name or abbreviation for the location. By default, this is auto-filled using the first three letters of the Location Name.	Text
Location Currency	Assign a currency to this Location. The selected currency will be applied to all Detail-level lines using this Location. It will not affect the currency assigned to Header Row Groups.	Dropdown
Color	Assign a color to the location. This color appears on Detail-level lines where the location is displayed.	Color Picker
Start (Date)	Displays the start date for this location, pulled from the Calendar. This is a read-only reference field.	Date
End (Date)	Displays the end date for this location, pulled from the Calendar. This is a read-only reference field.	Date
Weeks	Displays the total duration for this location in weeks, based on the Start and End Date calendar information.	Numerical
Labor	Shows the real-time total of all Labor lines assigned to this location in the budget.	Text
Purchases	Shows the real-time total of all Purchase lines assigned to this location in the budget.	Text
Rentals	Shows the real-time total of all Rentals lines assigned to this location in the budget.	Text
Allowance	Shows the real-time total of all Allowance lines assigned to this location in the budget.	Text
Total	Displays the overall real-time total value assigned to this location in the budget.	Text
In Use Lines	Displays the number of budget lines assigned to this location. Clicking the report icon generates a detailed breakdown.	Numerical
Options (Three-Dot Icon)	Opens a dropdown menu with additional actions for the selected location, including renaming and deleting.	Dropdown

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Display Location Totals on Topsheet

An additional option in the Locations element manager allows you to add a new section to the bottom of the Topsheet. This section displays each location along with its associated totals, providing quick cost analytics at a glance.

To enable location totals, set the option to On.
By default, this setting is set to Off.

Example of Location Totals on the Topsheet:

Figure: Example of Location Totals being displayed on the Topsheet.

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Options Menu

Clicking the three-dot icon in the Options menu reveals additional actions available for the selected element.

• Rename - renames the selected Location.
• Delete - deletes the selected Location from the budget.

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Deleting a Location

Rules: A budget must contain at least one location.
Delete will only be enabled when two or more locations are present in the budget.

• Behavior:
  • If a location is not in use on any budget lines, it can be deleted.

• If a Location is in use, the system prompts the user with a notification explaining that it must be removed from all budget instances before it can be deleted.

• If the user chooses to continue with deletion:
  • The location is removed from the budget.